Isaac, Jacob, Esau, and Joseph. 9/23/25

Jacob and Esau:

  • Isaac has two sons, Esau and Jacob.

  • Even though Jacob is the younger of the two, he is chosen by God to be the one through whom the covenant continues.

  • Jacob takes Esau’s birthright and his blessing thorough somewhat deceitful means.

  • Jacob gets the blessing by pretending to be his brother Esau in front of their nearly blind father, Isaac.

  • Jacob is somewhat of a con man at the beginning of his life. However, after his encounter with God, he has a compete change of character.

Jacob Wrestles With God:

  • Because of his trickery, Jacob has a strained relationship with Esau.

  • Because Esau wanted to kill Jacob, they live separately from each other for many years, but decide to meet up again.

  • One night, while waiting to meet Esau, Jacob literally wrestled with God.

  • As part of God’s reaffirmation of the covenant to Jacob, God changes his name to Israel (35:10:; see all 32:28)

  • “Israel” means “struggles with God” or “strives with God.”

  • In the book of Exodus Jacob’s descendants will be formed into a nation, and they will take the term “Israel” as their national name.

Jacob’s Sons:

  • God blesses Jacob with 12 sons:

  • Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, Benjamin, Dan, Naphtali. Gad, and Asher

  • The Story in the final chapters of Genesis (Gen. 37-50) deals with Jacob and his twelve sons, with a particular focus on his son Joseph

Joseph:

  • Jacob favors Joseph, and the other sons resent it.

  • In an attempt to get rid of him, the brothers sell Joseph as a slave to a caravan going to Egypt.

  • God, however, is with Joseph even as he languishes alone as a slave in Egypt. (Gen. 39:2, 21)

  • In addition, while in Egypt Joseph demonstrates that he is a man of character and faith.

  • God blesses Jospeh, and in an incredible “reversal of fate.” Joseph rises from slate to a high-ranking government official, second only to Pharoah himself.

A New King:

  • At the end of Genesis, the descendants of Jacob are living in Egypt.

  • These descendants experienced explosive growth and their population swelled.

  • During this time, a new Pharaoh came to power. The book of Exodus makes it clear that this new Pharaoh “did not know Joseph.”

    • This new king may indicate a dynasty change in Egypt.

    • “Did not know” may indicate that the new Pharaoh “did not care” about Joseph.

  • The Egyptians were afraid the large number of Israelites would join with their enemies and overthrown them.

  • To prevent that from happening, the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites and sought to control their population.

Pharaoh:

  • Pharaoh was the official title of the king of Egypt (kind of like how Caesar was the official title of Roman Emperors).

  • “Pharaoh” means “Great House.”

  • Pharaoh was considered to be a god; the son of the Egyptian god, Re.

  • The Pharaoh in Exodus is not named. This is not because the writer of Exodus forgot the name, but for two possible reasons:

    • The name of the Pharaoh does not add to, or take away, from what God was doing in delivering His people from slavery.

    • Pharaoh wanted his name to live on forever. It could be that his name was left out of the biblical record as a form of punishment for his refusal to acknowledge the God of the universe.

Population Control:

  • Seeking to control the Israelite population, Pharaoh develops two terrible plans:

    • 1.) He order the Hebrew midwives to kill all male babies. The women do not do this.

    • 2.) He order the soldiers to go throughout the Hebrew camps and kill all male Hebrew infants, this unfortunately happens.

  • One Hebrew mother, Jochebed, his her child for three months in order to save his life.

  • The child was Moses.

A Baby In A Basket:

  • Jochebed weaved a basket and placed her infant son inside it. She then placed the basket on the Nile river and sent it downstream.

  • This is an act of faith and desperation. She trusts that the Lord will keep her baby safe, but also is willing to do anything to prevent his murder.

  • The basket washed up next to the daughter of Pharaoh, who was bathing in the river.

  • The daughter took the baby and :adopted” him as her son. She called him Moses which means “draws out.”

  • Moses was raised in the Egyptian royal household. He would have known he was a Hebrew the entire time. His wet nurse was his own mother, Jochebed.

Moses Flees Egypt:

  • One day, Moses was watching the Hebrew slaves working.

  • He saw an Egyptian overseer beating one of the Hebrew slaves.

  • Moses stood up for the slaved and killed the Egyptian, hiding his body in the sand.

  • Because of this, Pharaoh tried to kill Moses.

  • Moses fled Egypt and went to a sheep herding village in the desert called Midian.

  • He would live there for 40 years, marry and have children.

  • But God has other plans!

The Burning Bush:

  • God came to Moses in the form of a burning bush.

    • The bush was on fire, but not burning up.

  • God called Moses to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt.

  • God told Moses His name was “I Am.” (Yahweh). This is because God is in the eternal present. He exists from everlasting to everlasting. Moses made many excuses to god as to why he shouldn’t be the one to go to Egypt. God told Moses He would go with him.

  • On this mission, God is the one working. Moses is the mediator in this mission.

The Ten Plagues:

  • When Moses returned to Egypt, he told the Hebrew elders that he had been sent by God to deliver them for bondage.

  • Moses and his brother, Aaron, went to Pharaoh (a different Pharaoh than he had interacted with previously) to ask for the release of God’s people. Pharaoh refused.

  • God told Moses that He was going to smite Egypt with all His wonders.

  • These ten plagues awe not random, nor are they given for no reason.

  • First and foremost, the plagues are judgment for the sins of the Egyptians. Because they has turned from God to worship other things, they faced judgement for those sins.

  • Each plague specifically targets an Egyptian god or goddess.

  • God is going to show his power, while at the same time showing the Egyptian gods to be powerfulness.

Plague 1: Water Turned to Blood:

  • Exodus 7: 14 - 25

  • Egyptian deity targeted: Hali (the spirit of the Nile)

  • Egyptian magicians were able to duplicate this, although we do not know how.

  • Egyptians had to dig for clean water.

Plague 2: Frogs:

  • Exodus 8: 1 - 15

  • Egyptian Deity targeted: Hequet (goddess of childbirth and resurrection.)

Plague 3: Gnats:

  • Exodus 8: 16 - 19

  • Egyptian deity targeted: NO specific deity targeted here. Could have been Gen, god of the earth. However, this is just a guess.

Plague 4: Flies:

  • Exodus 8: 20 - 32

  • Egyptian deity targeted: Khepri, god of creation and renewal.

  • The only use of the word “swarms” in the Old Testament.

  • First plague not to affect the Goshen area.

Plague 5: Livestock:

  • Exodus 9: 1 - 7

  • Egyptian deities targeted Hathor (form of a cow, goddess of love.) Apis (sacred bull, god of fertility.)

Plague 6: Boils:

  • Exodus 9: 8 - 12

  • Egyptian deity targeted: Imhoteo ( god of medicine).

  • Egyptians rubber ashes on themselves to ease the ithing and soreness.

Plague 7: Hail:

  • Exodus 9: 13 - 35

  • Egyptian deity targeted: Nut (sky goddess); Isis (life goddess); Seth (crop protector)

Plague 8: Locusts:

  • Exodus 10: 1 - 20

  • Egyptian deities targeted: Isis and Seth again

Plague 9: Darkness:

  • Exodus 10: 21 - 29

  • Egyptian deities targeted: Re, Aten, Aton, Horus (all sun gods).

  • This was a darkness that could be felt. Most scholars think it was a Khamsin dust storm.

Passover:

  • Exodus 12: 1 - 28

  • Before the final plague, God told the Israelites what they needed to do to keep themselves safe.

  • They were instructed to do the following:

    • Take a spotless lamb, without blemish.

    • Sacrifice the lamb, placing its blood on the doorposts of your home.

    • Eat the meat of the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs.

  • If the Hebrews did this, the final plague would “pass over” them, hence why the festival is called Passover.

  • It is still celebrated today by the Jewish people; it is their most important festival.

  • The events of Passover serve as a persecutor to salvation through Jesus Christ.

Plague 10: Death of The First New Born:

  • Exodus 11: 1 - 12:36

  • Egyptian deities targeted: Osiris, the giver of life (the patron and sovereign deity of the

The Exodus:

  • Exodus 12: 33 - 13:22

  • The Israelites, led by Moses, leave the land of Egypt in which they had been slaves for 400 years.

  • Gos is the one leading them out of the land, His presence goes before them in two forms:

    • A pillar of cloud during the dat.

    • A pillar of fire by night.

The Red Sea:

  • God leads the people up to the shores of the Red Sea.

  • Pharaoh hears of this, and he changes his mind about letting them go. He mobilizes his extensive chariot army and pursues the Israelites thinking that he can trap them up against the Red Sea.

  • The Israelites quake with fear, but God tells Moses to stretch out his hand, part the waters, and move the Israelites through the sea.

  • God states that now the Egyptians will know that Israel’s God is “the LORD.”

  • God parts the waters of the Red Sea and the Israelites cross over safety to the other side.

  • The Egyptian chariots pursue the Israelites into the sea, but God crushes them under the water.

  • Israel now knows God as deliverer and Egypt now knows God as avenging judge.